


Something to Believe In

by respoftw



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 04:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6223651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Poe needs to believe in something beautiful</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something to Believe In

There’s a type of tree that is native to a lonely, out of the way planet at the far end of the galaxy that blooms for just one day every thirty-three years. Poe’s mother had been lucky enough to see it on one of those days and had always said it was the most beautiful thing she’d had the privilege of seeing. Shara Bey hadn’t been a sentimental woman, she had never been one for plants or nature and normally reserved her definition of beautiful for a freshly refurbished engine or a childish, crayon coloured drawing of Poe's that would be displayed with pride, hanging on the walls of their home on Yavin 4.

  
Poe had always wondered just how spectacular that blossoming tree must have been to elicit such a fond, yearning smile from his mother whenever she spoke of it. He used to love listening to her talk of it, he remembers thinking that it couldn’t possibly be as beautiful as his mother looked when she told the story. Even now, decades later, he can picture the way her eyes would mist slightly, the way her head tilted back, the way she would smile and take a deep breath through her nose as if she could still smell the fragrant blossoms on the air.

  
He had made a promise to himself on the day she died that he would be there on that lonely, out of the way planet at the far end of the galaxy the next time it bloomed. He needed to see if it could possibly be as beautiful as she had described. He needed to believe that beauty like that could still exist after his mother was taken from his life.

  
Twenty-four years later, after a lifetime of fighting for his freedom and losing too many people along the way, Poe needed to believe in a beauty like that even more.

  
He lands the ship a mile away from the tree, too scared to get any closer in case the air disturbance harms the blossoms; he can’t even begin to imagine how devastating that would be. In a lot of ways it would be like losing his mother all over again.

  
He’s quiet on the walk there, BB-8 chattering excitedly away as they navigate the terrain, heedless to the fact that Poe isn’t listening and Finn can’t understand binary.

  
Finn.

  
Poe had told Finn about the tree while he was still in the medical bay, while Finn was struggling to heal, fighting a losing battle against the pain. Somehow, Poe had needed to hold on to the idea of beauty more than ever during those long weeks. It had seemed wrong after that not to invite him along.

  
He’s so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t realise that they’ve arrived at the tree until he hears Finn draw in a shaky breath and release it with a joyful laugh into the air.

  
His eyes are bright, brighter than Poe has ever seen them and the sheer wonder on his face makes him almost glow.  
“I didn’t know anything this beautiful could exist,” Finn said, unable to tear his eyes away from the blossoming tree.

  
Poe can only nod in stunned agreement. He knows now what his mother had been talking about, he’s got the proof that he’s always needed that something as magical and perfect and beautiful as she had always said, exists in this galaxy.

  
He hasn’t looked at the tree once


End file.
